Healthy waterways social science research report 2015

Healthy Waterways aims to protect and enhance the condition of waterways across 19 catchment local government areas in Queensland. It does this by seeking to influence the decisions and actions – including social lifestyle choices – of community members who interact with these waterways. It then monitors the waterways in the 19 catchments to gauge the impact of these decisions and actions. Each year, Healthy Waterways produces a report on its activities and their impact on the condition of the waterways they are monitoring. This research will contribute to understanding the social component of that report, specifically the attitudinal and behavioural components that underpin social expectations and actions towards protecting and supporting local waterways in communities across the 19 catchment local government areas in Queensland.

Human trafficking heroes and villains: Representing the problem in anti-trafficking awareness campaigns

Since the declaration by the United Nations that awareness raising should be a key part of efforts to combat human trafficking, government and non-government organisations have produced numerous public awareness campaigns designed to capture the public’s attention and sympathy. These campaigns represent the ‘problem’ of trafficking in specific ways, creating heroes and villains by placing the blame for trafficking on some, while obscuring the responsibility of others. This paper adopts Carol Bacchi’s ‘What is the problem represented to be?’ framework for examining the politicisation of problem representation in 18 anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. It is argued that these campaigns construct a narrow understanding of the problem through the depiction of ‘ideal offenders’. In particular, a strong focus on the demand for commercial sex as causative of human trafficking serves to obscure the problematic role of consumerism in a wide range of industries, and perpetuates an understanding of trafficking that fails to draw a necessary distinction between the demand for labour, and the demand for ‘exploitable’ labour. This problem representation also obscures the role governments in destination countries may play in causing trafficking through imposing restrictive migration regimes that render migrants vulnerable to traffickers.

N-syndecan and HB-GAM in neural migration and differentiation : Modulation of growth factor activity in brain

The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain any more so it eats it. It's rather like getting tenure. Daniel C. Dennett (from Consciousness Explained, 1991) The little sea squirt needs its brain for a task that is very simple and short. When the task is completed, the sea squirt starts a new life in a vegetative state, after having a nourishing meal. The little brain is more tightly structured than our massive primate brains. The number of neurons is exact, no leeway in neural proliferation is tolerated. Each neuroblast migrates exactly to the correct position, and only a certain number of connections with the right companions is allowed. In comparison, growth of a mammalian brain is a merry mess. The reason is obvious: Squirt brain needs to perform only a few, predictable functions, before becoming waste. The more mobile and complex mammals engage their brains in tasks requiring quick adaptation and plasticity in a constantly changing environment. Although the regulation of nervous system development varies between species, many regulatory elements remain the same. For example, all multicellular animals possess a collection of proteoglycans (PG); proteins with attached, complex sugar chains called glycosaminoglycans (GAG). In development, PGs participate in the organization of the animal body, like in the construction of parts of the nervous system. The PGs capture water with their GAG chains, forming a biochemically active gel at the surface of the cell, and in the extracellular matrix (ECM). In the nervous system, this gel traps inside it different molecules: growth factors and ECM-associated proteins. They regulate the proliferation of neural stem cells (NSC), guide the migration of neurons, and coordinate the formation of neuronal connections. In this work I have followed the role of two molecules contributing to the complexity of mammalian brain development. N-syndecan is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) with cell signaling functions. Heparin-binding growth-associated molecule (HB-GAM) is an ECM-associated protein with high expression in the perinatal nervous system, and high affinity to HS and heparin. N-syndecan is a receptor for several growth factors and for HB-GAM. HB-GAM induces specific signaling via N-syndecan, activating c-Src, calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine protein kinase (CASK) and cortactin. By studying the gene knockouts of HB-GAM and N-syndecan in mice, I have found that HB-GAM and N-syndecan are involved as a receptor-ligand-pair in neural migration and differentiation. HB-GAM competes with the growth factors fibriblast growth factor (FGF)-2 and heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) in HS-binding, causing NSCs to stop proliferation and to differentiate, and affects HB-EGF-induced EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling in neural cells during migration. N-syndecan signaling affects the motility of young neurons, by boosting EGFR-mediated cell migration. In addition, these two receptors form a complex at the surface of the neurons, probably creating a motility-regulating structure.

Traces from elsewhere: Nomadism, artistic identity and contemporary dance in Ireland

This keynote presentation explores the connections between nomadism and artistic identity formation by interrogating the creativity that migration elicits and the narratives that surround it. It is further situated in the complex role that emigration has in Irish culture questioning whether contemporary dance in particular is emblematic of this socio-cultural phenomenon. These questions are anchored through descriptions of a creative project currently underway that draws together artists from Ireland and Australia to explore how we manage absence and presence in a globalized yet increasingly virtual world.

Tracking brand positioning for an emerging destination: 2003 to 2015

Few published studies have monitored destination brand image over time. This temporal aspect is an important gap in the literature, given consensus around the role perceptions play in consumers’ decision making, and the ensuing emphasis on imagery in destination branding collateral. Whereas most destination image studies have been a snapshot of perceptions at one point in time, this paper presents findings from a survey implemented four times between 2003 and 2015. Brand image is the core construct in modelling destination branding performance, which has emerged as a relatively new field of research in the past decade. Using the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) hierarchy, the project has benchmarked and monitored destination brand salience, image and resonance for an emerging regional destination, relative to key competitors, in the domestic Australian market; and the survey instrument has been demonstrated to be reliable in the context of short break holidays by car. What is particularly interesting to date is there has been relatively little change in the market positions of the five destinations, in spite of over a decade of marketing communications by the regional tourism organisations and their stakeholders, and more recently the mass of user-generated travel content on social media. The project didn’t analyse the actual marketing communications for each of the DMOs. Therefore an important implication is that irrespective of the level of marketing undertaken the DMOs seem to have had little control over the perceptions held in their largest market during this time period. Therefore it must be recognised any improvement in perceptions will likely take a long period of time, and so branding needs to be underpinned by a philosophy of a long term financial investment as well as commitment to a consistency of message over time; which given the politics of DMO decision making represents a considerable challenge.

No variance for filed orders: Hayes v Westpac Banking Corporation [2015] QCA 260

In Hayes v Westpac Banking Corporation [2015] QCA 260 the Queensland Court of Appeal examined the relationship between rules 7 (extending and shortening time) and 667 (setting aside) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), and held that r667(1) does not enable the court to set aside or vary an order after the order has been filed. The court found that, to the extent that this conclusion was contrary to the decision in McIntosh v Linke Nominees Pty Ltd [2010] 1 Qd R 152, the decision in McIntosh was wrong and should not be followed.

Situated interpretation in computational creativity

This paper describes, formalizes and implements an approach to computational creativity based on situated interpretation. The paper introduces the notions of framing and reframing of conceptual spaces based on empirical studies as the driver for this research. It uses concepts from situated cognition, and situated interpretation in particular, to be the basis of a formal model of the movement between conceptual spaces. This model is implemented using rules within interacting neural networks. This implementation demonstrates behaviour similar to that observed in studies of human designers.

Reproducibility of scratch assays is affected by the initial degree of confluence: Experiments, modelling and model selection

Scratch assays are difficult to reproduce. Here we identify a previously overlooked source of variability which could partially explain this difficulty. We analyse a suite of scratch assays in which we vary the initial degree of confluence (initial cell density). Our results indicate that the rate of re-colonisation is very sensitive to the initial density. To quantify the relative roles of cell migration and proliferation, we calibrate the solution of the Fisher–Kolmogorov model to cell density profiles to provide estimates of the cell diffusivity, D, and the cell proliferation rate, λ. This procedure indicates that the estimates of D and λ are very sensitive to the initial density. This dependence suggests that the Fisher–Kolmogorov model does not accurately represent the details of the collective cell spreading process, since this model assumes that D and λ are constants that ought to be independent of the initial density. Since higher initial cell density leads to enhanced spreading, we also calibrate the solution of the Porous–Fisher model to the data as this model assumes that the cell flux is an increasing function of the cell density. Estimates of D and λ associated with the Porous–Fisher model are less sensitive to the initial density, suggesting that the Porous–Fisher model provides a better description of the experiments.

The Australian Nonprofit Sector Legal Almanac 2015

Collected summaries of court cases involving nonprofit organisations, from Australia and overseas, during 2015, along with updates of legislative changes in all Australian jurisdictions. Significant Australian cases included several disputes with State Revenue Authorities about exemption from payroll taxes.